Yankees’ Schlitter Shines in Victory Over Reds
On Friday night, it was all about the Yankees.
Next month, fans might see Cam Schlitter starting against the National League All-Stars.
In a standout performance, the Yankees’ rising star racked up a career-high 13 strikeouts and threw six scoreless innings, leading to a 5-0 win against the Reds at home.
Schlitter, now with an impressive ERA of 1.71 over 16 starts, is headed for the American League All-Star Game—just adding to an already remarkable season.
However, his biggest challenge during the game was managing his pitch count. He needed 96 pitches to finish the sixth inning, which might have limited him from continuing longer.
The Reds, sporting a strikeout rate of 24.5 percent, struggled against Schlitter, who became the first Yankee to achieve 13 strikeouts since Max Fried did it last September.
The right-handed ace allowed just four hits, one of which was dropped by right fielder Jason Dominguez, and remarkably did not issue any walks.
At 25 years old, Schlitter now holds the record as the youngest Yankee pitcher to strike out 13 batters without any walks, according to MLB.com’s Sara Langs.
“Schritti is definitely a Cy Young Award winner,” tweeted Josh Hart, a recent Knicks star and devoted Yankees supporter.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. kicked off the scoring with a homer in the second inning, and Ben Rice capped it off with a three-run shot. This offensive power made Schlitter’s task a lot easier as the Yankees, now 46-28, won for the 10th time in their last 13 games.
Prior to this game, Schlitter had a personal best of nine strikeouts in a regular-season game. He surpassed that in the fourth inning by striking out Eugenio Suarez with a powerful 99 mph sinker.
His previous career high was 12 strikeouts during the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox last October, but he broke that record by the fifth inning, striking out JJ Brady on three pitches with a 98 mph fastball.
Interestingly, Schlitter’s night got off to a rough start when his first pitch hit Blake Dunn.
Despite that, fans cheered wildly as he left the mound, rewarded by a standing ovation from the crowd of 42,420 for his stellar performance.
Relievers Jake Byrd, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar also did their part, keeping the Reds scoreless in this shutout.
Chisholm, who had some concerns from fouling his groin in the previous game, showed no signs of trouble. He sent a changeup from the Reds’ Rhett Lowder into the right field stands for the game’s first run.
Following walks from Spencer Jones and Anthony Volpe, Rice came up and smashed a 94 mph fastball into the Monument Park net for his 21st three-run homer of the season, extending the lead to 4-0. Volpe later added an RBI in the eighth, marking his second hit of the night.
